Curated OER
Radioactive Decay and Half-Life
Young scholars describe how the mass of a radioactive isotope changes with time and the factors that affect the rate of radioactive decay. They write nuclear decay equations to represent natural transmutation. This activity is...
Virginia Department of Education
Radioactive Decay and Half-Life
Explain the importance of radioactive half-life as your high school biologists demonstrate the concept by performing a series of steps designed to simulate radioactive decay. Pupils use pennies to perform an experiment and gather data....
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
Using Radioactive Decay to Determine Geologic Age
Pupils investigae using radioactive decay to determine geologic age.
Curated OER
Radioactive Decay: A Sweet Simulation of a Half-life
Students demonstrate rates of decay of unstable nuclei can be measured. They understand ratios and multiplication of fractions. They simulate radioactive decay. They read about the accomplishments of scientists.
PhET
Radioactive Dating Game
Uranium 235 has a half-life of over 700 million years and is the fuel used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Pupils see the half-lives and decay rates of Carbon-14 and Uranium-238. They also take measurements of these two...
Curated OER
Half-Life
In this half-life worksheet, students are guided through the steps of solving radioactive decay problems. They solve nine problems finding rates of decay, half-life and quantities of substances remaining after given amounts of time.
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Curated OER
2005 U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad - Local Section Exam
National Chemistry Olympiad tests are released after their use each year, since they cannot use them again for this event. The result: outstanding comprehensive assessment resources for general chemistry classes! This 2005 version covers...
Curated OER
Nuclear Chemistry Homework Problem Set
In this nuclear chemistry worksheet, students evaluate data from concentration experiments on radioactive iodine. They graph the data, determine radioactive decay and half life for the element.
Curated OER
Absolute Dating/Radioactive Dating
Students explore radioactive decay. In this radioactive atoms lesson students complete a lab to help them understand the relationship between radioactive atoms vs stable atoms.
Curated OER
Exponential Decay
Students study exponential decay and its application to radiocarbon dating. In this exponential decay lesson, students use candy to model the time it takes for something to decay. Students also graph the data they collect and describe...
Illustrative Mathematics
Accuracy of Carbon 14 Dating II
The scientific issue of carbon-14 dating and exponential decay gets a statistics-based treatment in this problem. The class starts with a basic investigation of carbon content, but then branches out to questions of accuracy and ranges of...
Curated OER
Radioactivity Experiments
Students study the difference between types of ionizing radiation and how elements are transmuted. They determine that radiation is normal and surrounds us. They calculate the amounts of alpha, beta and gamma radiation emitted from a...
Curated OER
Experimental Rate Law
In this reaction rate learning exercise, students determine the molecularity of a reaction plus show that the predicted rate law equals the experimental rate law. This learning exercise has 3 problems to solve.
Curated OER
Exponential Growth and Decay
In this algebra worksheet, students solve word problems. They identify the graph as exponential growth or decay. There are 7 questions with an answer key.
Curated OER
Determining the Age of Fossils
Students examine the concept of radioactive dating. In this radioactive dating lesson, students investigate how to determine the ages of fossils and rocks as they learn about half-life radioactive decay.
Curated OER
Nuclear Chemistry
In this nuclear chemistry worksheet, students answer 9 questions. They balance nuclear equations, they write balanced equations, they calculate decay and they find binding energy of atoms.
Curated OER
Earth's Age: The Dating Game
Students conduct a simulation to determine radioactive decay and half-life. Using pennies, dice or sugar cubes as isotopes placed in shoe boxes simulating rocks, they hold five trials representing 1000 years each to find the theoretical...
Curated OER
Earth System Science
Students investigate the age of the earth by using accepted scientific methods. They conduct research about the use of radioactive dating and there is a simulation activity of the process. Finally, students measure the radioactive decay...
Curated OER
Radioactivity
In this radioactivity worksheet, students write the mass number and atomic number for the missing element in the reactions. Students identify the isotope that is more stable and determine the half-life of the isotope. This worksheet has...
Curated OER
Working with Half-Life
In this half-life worksheet, students use a given table of half lives, mass, time and amount of original sample to solve for unknowns in nine given half-life problems.
Curated OER
Forms of Exponential Expressions
Your young physicists analyze the forms of four equivalent exponential expressions representing an amount of a radioactive material in a substance. They show how each expression is equivalent to the others and what aspects of the decay...
Curated OER
Half-Life Lab
Students participate in a lab in which they are introduced to carbon-dating. In groups, they use the holes of paper from a hole puncher and determine the rate of retention after shaking coins onto the same area. They record their...